Unions Cup 2026 Matchday 1 Reviews

The Unions Cup 2026 got underway on Sunday 12th July, with Matchday 1 seeing four fixtures in the tournament, which is now in its third and biggest edition.

There were wins for Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Chinese Taipei, who move on to the Cup semifinals, while Thailand, Guam, Laos and the Barbarian Asia will compete in ranking matches.

Photo Credit – Chinese Taipei Rugby Union

Sunday 12th July 2026 Unions Cup Results

On a pleasant but windy day, the Unions Cup 2026 got underway with two doubleheaders in Bangkok, Thailand.

(The numbers in brackets are World Rugby rankings)

Philippines (52) 74-0 Laos (103)

The defending champions, the Volcanoes from the Philippines, were the favourites as the higher-ranked team and defending champions and comfortably beat Laos, who were playing their first Men’s XV Test since 2017.

The start of the match was competitive but scrappy. Volcanoes centre Raphael Barberis opened the scoring in the 8th minute before left wing Charles Warren added a second score minutes later at the NKRAFA field. Benjamin Mudie, a second for Warren, Tommy Gilbert and Michael Blatteis scored tries, which meant the side were in full control at the break with a 34-0 lead.

The side ran out 74-0 winners, with second-half tries including a second for Blatteis, as well as Richard Lewis, Sean Sweetman, Ned Stephenson, Connor Browne, and Karl Westbrook.

Lao Men’s XV Head Coach Adrien Xiong had told us before the tournament: “While our preparation period has been relatively short, the players have embraced the opportunity and are excited to represent Laos on the international stage.”

Most of the squad are Lao-based players, but they have had members fly in from the US and France, with a set of cousins coming from France to play for the national side.

Photo Credit – PRFU

The Lao Men’s XV Head Coach said, “The overseas-based players bring additional experience to the group. Bringing together players from both Laos and overseas is an important part of the programme, creating opportunities to share knowledge, learn from different rugby environments and continue raising standards across the squad.

We need to be better at executing. I think the players were too shy and didn’t play to their potential, and the stage got to them, so we need to show our abilities and play with freedom. We have nothing to lose and can only learn. We are here to play and learn at this level and see the other matches and learn from them too.”

Philippines Head Coach Josh Sutcliffe said, “I think we have 11 players that will debut this week at this level in a very talented team. We have some of the 7s boys available for this tournament, and they are also helping raise the levels of accuracy and physicality.

With the forwards, we are starting to find these Filipinos both at home and around the world that are really able to make an impact.”

Of Laos, Sutcliffe added, “They were unbelievable, and I fully expected them to give us nightmares, and they did that in the opening 20 minutes.

A real hat tip to them, and Southeast Asian rugby is only going to grow by them being here, and maybe next year even Indonesia, and we could even get two tiers to this competition. Laos have some really good athletes and some good rugby IQ – they just need to be given more opportunities.”

Photo Credit – PRFU

Philippines Assistant Coach – Rob Fogerty added, “We know we will need to go to greater levels in the coming games to get a result. Today was all about combinations and giving the guys game time. Among the debuts was a young 17/18 year-old Karl Westbrook who is from Brighton in the UK, and he scored on debut. It’s incredible for him to be capped so young, and he didn’t look out of place at this level.

We have a good group here, and as a coach, I am confident we can go far in this competition. We need to make sure we dont get too far ahead of ourselves, though, and we are realists and know it will get tougher from here.”

Singapore (64) 21-19 Barbarian Asia

Photo Credit – Chinese Taipei Rugby Union

The Barbarians Asia side has some outstanding talent, including Hong Kong-based Henry Mortimer at flyhalf (has played for UK National League 1 side Esher RFC), and South African Connor Clark (has played in the UK and Korea), among others from the USRC Tigers. The side also comprises players from the Philippines, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, and Singapore.

It was a close opening quarter with few clear chances, but the Baabaas side were winning the physical battle and the set piece. They opened the scoring just before the water break with a driving maul marching them upfield before the hooker Philip Joseph scored.  Singapore were restricted to shots at the posts and slotted two of them to lead 6-5.

The Baabaas led 19-6 at halftime, though after Harvey Dent scored on the left wing, which also saw the Singapore fullback yellow-carded. Their third try came from hooker Joseph with a double.

The side was leading before a yellow card in a feisty half with tempers flaring in a real physical tussle as the young Singapore side were best tested to the maximum.

They found a way, though, and Singapore came back to score three unconverted tries and deny the Baabaas any points in the second half to come from behind. Number 8 Hugh Lindsay started the comeback with a run off a dominant scrum in the 56th minute, then right wing Ray Peh dotted down in the corner on the hour mark, before Lindsay scored his second and they held on to win 21-19

Photo Credit – Chinese Taipei Rugby Union

Singapore Head Coach Mark Lee said, “That was a Test match in so many ways even though it’s uncapped. It was maybe not a classic high-scoring game you would get with the Barbarians, but they had a game plan, and some really talented players, with at least 4-5 that were really handy, and you could see that.

We had to stick to our own process and throw the kitchen sink and everything else with the grind, grind, grind. We dont have superstars, but we stuck to our plan, and we got the win, so the guys put in a really commendable effort. 

We had lots of young players, including a 17-year-old who came off the bench and won his lineouts; both wings are young – 18 & 22 years old. These young guys gave the squad the energy that you want. In total, we had 17 new debut players at this level.

I can’t give these guys character, but they showed it by coming from behind, and that’s the key. It’s a steep learning curve at this level, as they would not have been used to that level of physicality in Singapore, and we felt it in that opening quarter with their driving mauls and their hit-ups in the middle.

This is what the Test match level is like, and they grow into it and bounced back.” 

Livestream Link to rewatch the matches.

Photo Credit – Chinese Taipei Rugby Union

Asia Barbarian, South African Head Coach Josh Carew, said after the narrow loss, “I am exceptionally proud of the boys, especially considering how the Singapore boys celebrated after the game.

We wanted to earn respect, and I think after the 80 minutes we did that. Gutted to come that close after the lead that we had at halftime, but 100 per cent proud for never giving up and only being together a couple of days, with some of the guys only flying in on Friday – I think it was a special performance.

We are starting something here, and we want to be taken seriously so that when these teams play us, they know it’s going to be a tough game and that they will face a lot of talent from different regions who will give the matches a proper crack but enjoy themselves off the field.”

Chinese Taipei (67) 45-14 Guam (69)

Photo Credit – Chinese Taipei Rugby Union

Chinese Taipei opened scoring through their scrumhalf, but the game was kept tight until the second half when they pulled away to seal the win. They had a 17-7 lead 15 minutes into the second period but then scored some good tries as the flyhalf had a growing impact on the game to run out 45-14 victors.

It was the first Test match for Guam since 2019 and a third consecutive Unions Cup for Chinese Taipei.

Guam Men’s XV Head Coach Leonard Calvo said after the loss, “We have so many young guys here with 14 new caps, and the boys played well in patches. This was our first game together with this group, and we know we left a lot of points out there, and that was due to inexperience.

We had some issues with the set piece, so I felt a lot of it was self-inflicted. I do want to credit Chinese Taipei, though, as they are very athletic and very skilled, but we need to do better to capitalise in the next game.”

Photo Credit – Chinese Taipei Rugby Union

Assistant Coach Peter Baggetta (former USA Women’s Rugby Defensive Assistant Coach), added, “We had more 22m entries than they did, and it was only 17-7, 15 minutes into the second half, and we fumbled a great opportunity at the end of the first half. We gave away some really soft tries today, so defensively I am happy compared to when we played them in a friendly last year, as then they got around us, but we worked on that.

Our outside backs today had an amazing game, and we were unlucky to lose our most experienced player and fullback early on in the match (former USA Eagle Zach Pangilinan), and that was a big loss. We probably overcomplicated our lineouts and made a mess of them.

Credit to Chinese Taipei, as they did score some great tries and their flyhalf and his kicking game were excellent, and he picked off some of our guys and set up some good tries. As Leonard said, it is disappointing as I felt like it was more what we didn’t do rather than what they did to us.”

Photo Credit – Chinese Taipei Rugby Union

Chinese Taipei Head Coach Sun Cheng-Yen said, “First of all, I want to express my excitement and gratitude for this victory. This is not just a victory in one match, but also the result of the hard work and dedication of our entire team.

Of the team’s performance, I believe we demonstrated excellent tactical execution and teamwork. Although the rain and slippery pitch posed challenges to our passing and receiving, especially regarding losing possession, I hope to overcome these difficulties in the next match, maintain focus, and make the right decisions at crucial moments.”

Thailand (72) 27-30 Malaysia (53)

Photo Credit – Thailand Rugby Photo

Malaysia led through a penalty 3-0 in the opening minutes and were ahead 13-7 by the half. In the 44th minute, they extended the lead to 20-7, and another try quickly saw them ahead 27-7. 

The hosts came back strong and scored twice themselves to tie it up 27-27 within the final minutes. An 80th-minute drop goal by the Malaysians broke Thai hearts as they stole it at the end with a superb kick by PDRM player Muhamad Amirul Aqil Bin Kamsol.

Agong Cup player of the tournament and Johor champion, Aqasha Daniel Irwan Bin Irwan, was key for the national team as the fullback slotted three conversions, two penalties and a try to tally 17 points in the win.

Duke Krishan, the Malaysia Men’s XV Head Coach, told us: “I think Thailand prepared that team very well, and some of the players I was watching and admiring the way they played. I have played them before, and I have lost after leading against Thailand. They are always fighting until the end of the game. So I kept telling the boys to stay focused. They kept us on our toes until the end.”

Livestream Link to rewatch the fixtures

Next Round of Fixtures: Wednesday 15 July 2026: Semifinals

• Laos vs Barbarian Asia (5th Placement Match SF) NKRAFA 2PM 
• Philippines vs Singapore (Cup SF) NKRAFA 4PM
• Guam vs Thailand (5th Placement Match SF) AFDC 2PM
• Chinese Taipei vs Malaysia (Cup SF) AFDC 4PM

How To Watch the Unions Cup 2026 Tournament?

The Thai Rugby Union will stream the matches on their social channels (YouTube)

Unions Cup 2026 News

• Singapore Rugby Tell Us About the Importance of the Unions Cup 2026.
• Unions Cup 2026 Tournament and Team Preview Guide.
• Rob Fogerty is Part of Coaching Setup For Philippines Unions Cup 2026